Journey to the afterlife: Indonesia’s Toraja live among the dead

Martha Kande’s family lived with her greying, shrivelled corpse at their home in Indonesia for seven months, as they prepared an elaborate funeral that is central to the Toraja people’s centuries-old death rituals.

“But it’s kept open before they are buried because we see them as sick so they are brought food and drink every day.”

Torajans — an ethnic group that numbers about a million people on Sulawesi island — have few qualms when it comes to talking with an embalmed corpse, dressing them up, brushing their hair or even taking pictures with a mummified relative.

AFP / GOH Chai Hin The body is put into a red coffin — in the form of a traditional, boat-shaped house

Traditionally the embalming process involved sour vinegar and tea leaves but these days families usually inject a formaldehyde solution into the corpse.